Through Irish eyes - Euro poll: Irish left "nul points" …
Dana leads the reactionary charge
The continued existence of a confessional state in the South of Ireland was graphically exposed by the Euro-election victory of Dana (Rosemary Scallion),former Eurovision song contest winner and born-again Christian.
It’s easy to dismiss this combination as an eccentric offshoot of real politics. (In her spare time Dana speaks in tongues). Yet this is no joke. Dana links a traditional far-right Catholic layer with the organisational and financial power of her contacts within the US Christian right.
She is moving towards an alliance with the "official" Catholic establishment to force a new referendum on abortion rights – an issue that has not been decisively resolved despite protestations that the confessional state has been banished by the forces of modernisation.
While abortion has come to the for after the vote, during the campaign there was an almost complete absence of political debate. Yet the previous period had seen a ferment on a whole range of issues.
Europe itself, the movement towards links with NATO, a massive privatisation of Irish Telecom arising directly from the Maastricht terms, major corruption scandals, a housing crisis and the imminent collapse of the deal with Britain in the North, had all been in the public eye.
None of these made an impact in the election, because on the fundamental issues the major parties have being singing from the same hymn-sheet for many years, taking their turns in coalition governments that apply largely identical policies.
The consensus between left and right in support of largely unrestricted capitalist rule extends beyond the parliament to "partnership" between government and the unions.
The European elections could have provided real issues for progressive candidates. Following the privatisation push around Telecom further threats are being made to other state companies. These threats are all part of the state’s obligations under the Maastricht treaty which itself is a logical part of the European Union.
These attacks were not mentioned at all by anyone. The nearest we came to a criticism of EU policy was on the issue of fishery quotas – and raised by Fianna Fail in West Corkrather than by left candidates. There was no debate, because no candidate explicity rejected the EU integration proposal and the Maastricht treaty. All accepted it and campaigned within its parameters.
Within this context the main capitalist party, Fianna Fail, was able to hold its own despite overwhelming charges of corruption. The main gains were by Dana and the Catholic right and the main losers the "left" supporters of the "third way", who had hoped to gain from the absorption of the former Stalinists of Democratic Left.
But what of the local government elections? These should give more opportunities for smaller and more radical parties to mount a challenge.
At first sight this is what appears to have happened. The Sinn Fein vote almost doubled to 3.5 per cent, putting it on the same level as the Progressive Democrats, one of the parties in the coalition government.
This is at the level where historically parties have been well placed to attract voter rebellions and pose a real threat to the major capitalist parties. Sinn Fein seats increased also, especially in working-class areas around Dublin.
A similar process on a smaller scale saw an increase in the vote for the Socialist Party candidates in the Dublin area.
But first sight can be deceptive. Overall the local government results mirrored the European results, and were a triumph for Fianna Fail. The Sinn Fein was content to campaign on constituency work and avoid political confrontation. When it is forced to define itself it does so as junior Fianna Fail rather than as a socialist organisation.
After the election Martin McGuiness spelt out the strategy quite clearly "There will be more Sinn Fein TDs elected next time. You could have a situation where SF is in government in the North and SF is in government in the South" McGuiness is of course talking about coalition in a capitalist government.
The limitations of this sort of approach were shown in the same elections by Democratic Left finishing its long 30-year journey form revolutionary nationalism by joining the Irish Labour Party. And today’s Sinn Fein don’t even have the advantage of a left rhetoric or any orientation to the trades unions!
The Socialist Party vote quite clearly shows a more class-conscious layer, but it is handicapped by confusion on major elements of the capitalist offensive around the Northern peace process and its understanding of the national question generally. So it lacks a realistic project for rebuilding the working class movement, and veers wildly around the political spectrum, from the spokesmen for the UVF to the tired remnants of the Communist and Workers Parties.
Overall the elections showed that there is a lack of a clear alternative and very little debate on the left about what are the issues facing the Irish working class.
Irish elections historically have an explosive character and the working class are always ready to punish the parties of government.
The left needs to engage this, link up with the whole range of struggles that the elections managed to avoid. It must begin to discuss seriously the issue of political programme as a way of breaking out of its present sterile political sectarianism and leading the battles that are to come.
A column from Socialist Democracy, Irish section of the Fourth International